An interview with NETGEAR’s Richard Jonker shows just how exciting Insight is for small businesses who need a little help in the IT department – or lack thereof.

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Netgear

The digital economy never sleeps and it never stops moving. The same can be said for many small business owners who work around the clock to keep up with rising customer demands and skyrocketing competition.

The speed of business in the digital economy has required those business owners to step outside of their comfort zone and into the complex and confusing world of small business IT. Although this is a difficult step for many, they can’t deny how important it is to the survival of the company. It’s the only way they can ensure their business operates effectively. A thriving, always-available network is simply the lifeblood of any modern business.

“The network becomes the single point of failure,” says Richard Jonker, Vice President, Small Business Product Line Management at NETGEAR. “If all your billing, all your systems are connected now to a network including your phone, that’s your lifeline. That’s your central nervous system.”

Businesses of all sizes share that concern. They share the same basic set of IT challenges as well, like setup, maintenance, management, monitoring, and security. The problem for small businesses in particular, though, is that they lack the in-house resources to confront those challenges effectively. More than 80% of small businesses, Salesforce.com found, don’t have any IT staff at all.

This issue was NETGEAR’s primary target when developing Insight, a fully robust but surprisingly simple IT solution for small businesses. “Without having super technical knowledge, you can still manage and monitor networks,” Jonker says of Insight.

One of the main reasons small businesses find Insight so refreshing is its smartphone-centered remote management capability. This is particularly beneficial for busy business owners who frequently feel like they need to be in multiple places at once. “You answer to the way people operate,” says Jonker. “It’s not a 9-5 economy anymore; it’s 24/7. You give small business people more time by giving them remote management on the screen they always have with them: their smartphone.”

“One of our test customers, he has four gelato shops, and of course he’s always in one restaurant when there’s a network issue in another restaurant,” says Jonker. “With Insight, he can actually see these networks together in one view.”

Insight’s single pane of glass lets business owners unite their business networks into one always-available portal. Network-attached storage devices at any location can be monitored through the smartphone app. Additionally, the app’s straightforward interface allows even minimally-tech-savvy business owners to manage and troubleshoot their network without difficulty. That transparent, simplified view of your network status is a major leap for small business IT as well as resellers and service providers.

As Jonker says, “an app that tells you what’s wrong, what piece is working and not working ­­— that peace of mind is a very important aspect. Uptime is everything these days.”

Business owners whose success is defined by their ability to engage with the fast-moving digital economy know that all too well. With the overwhelming aspects of business IT translated into a familiar, user-friendly format, Jonker believes that any business has the tools to succeed.

Learn more about how NETGEAR Insight helps small businesses thrive by visiting us here.